by
Tim Blanning

MUSIC

2010

PAPER

Blanning charts the meteoric rise of music from its origins as a lowly art form to its contemporary triumph among the arts. He includes terrific sections on composers Haydn, Bach, Mozart and Wagner as well as contemporary icons. (MUS83, $22.00)

by
Frederic Morton

HISTORY

1980

PAPER

340 PAGES

A portrait of Vienna at the end of the 19th century, this book focuses on Crown Prince Rudolph, his devastating suicide and the rich texture of gossip and daily life at the Habsburg Court. (AST16, $17.00)

by
Michelin Travel Publications

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by
Claudio Magris

CULTURAL PORTRAIT

2008

PAPER

416 PAGES

FAVORITE

Mixing history, personalities and literature, Magris traces the course of the Danube from its source in the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Balkans to the Black Sea in this anything but conventional travelogue, first published in 1986. (EUR58, $17.00)

by
Mariusz Szczygiel

HISTORY

2014

HARD COVER

304 PAGES

A cultural history told through a collection of stories about human survival during Czechoslovakia's 80-year existence. Szcygiel focuses on artists, writers and performers who responded with craftiness when confronted with the absurdity and pressures of their eras. (CZH104, $25.95)

by
Paula Sutter Fichtner

HISTORY

2014

HARD COVER

288 PAGES

A concise chronicle of the 600-year Habsburg Empire, essential for those interested in European history. Fichtner reveals how the dynasty used propaganda, political maneuvering and public performance to maintain enduring control over an array of cultures and ethnicities. (CEU51, $39.00)

by
Harold C. Schonberg

MUSIC

1997

HARD COVER

653 PAGES

Schonberg discusses the lives and works of the foremost figures in classical music, among them Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, the Schumanns, Copland and Stravinsky, weaving a fabric rich in detail and anecdote. (MUS73, $35.00)

by
Patrick Leigh Fermor

TRAVEL NARRATIVE

2005

PAPER

384 PAGES

BEST SELLER

Fermor effortlessly interweaves anecdote, history and culture in this exuberant account of a walk from Holland, up the Rhine and down the Danube, through Germany, Prague and Austria in 1933. Written not in the moment, but 40 years later, the accumulation of time and experience gives the book particular poignancy. (CEU30, $16.95)

by
Linda Fischer

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

2014

PAPER

326 PAGES

When Linda Fischer discovers a memory book in an antique shop in Budapest, she is inspired to explore the world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the life of the album's author, a young Hungarian woman who lived at the turn of the 20th century. (HGR81, $17.99)

by
Mimi Hughes

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

2013

PAPER

346 PAGES

Hughes recaptures her experience as the first person to swim the Danube River without flippers, more than 1,770 miles. She writes movingly about her 89-day trip in this inspirational story of hope and a call for social change. (CEU48, $16.95)

by
John Berger

LITERATURE

2006

PAPER

256 PAGES

This reflective novel weaves a portrait of several European countries through encounters with the dead -- from the narrator's mother, whom he discovers on a park bench in Lisbon, to a childhood friend wandering a market in Krakow. (EUR189, $15.00)

by
Joseph Roth
|
Joachim Neugroschel

LITERATURE

2002

PAPER

331 PAGES

Magnificently set against the backdrop of the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, Roth's family saga takes in the sweep of history and empire in Central Europe. The richly textured novel opens at the battle of Solferino, when young Lieutenant Trotta saves the life of the Emperor. (AST17, $16.95)

by
Graham Greene

LITERATURE

1992

PAPER

157 PAGES

A haunting tale and penetrating portrait of Vienna after World War II, "The Third Man" is the result of Greene's collaboration with Carol Reed on the classic movie. "The Fallen Idol" is a separate tale of intrigue set in Britain. (AST30, $15.00)

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